IPL 2019 | All credit goes to the spinners, says MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni lavished praise on his spin bowling department who helped restrict Delhi Capitals to a score of 147/9 which proved to be too easy for Chennai Super Kings who chased it down with one over to spare. Dhoni & Co. will take on Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians in the final of this year’s IPL.
Chennai Super Kings made their way to back-to-back appearances in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after they defeated Delhi Capitals by six wickets in the second eliminator on Friday in Visakhapatnam. Half-centuries from CSK openers - Shane Watson and Faf Du Plessis - ensured that Dhoni & Co. could chase down the target of 148 set by a young Delhi side.
Dhoni, who was dismissed by Ishant Sharma, revealed that he had his spinners to thank for last night’s win after the likes of Imran Tahir, Ravindra Jadeja, and Harbhajan Singh put in a brilliant performance to sink Shreyas Iyer & Co. Harbhajan and Jadeja picked up two wickets each while Tahir had one to his name at the end of the first innings.
"I think the credit needs to go to the spinners: the captain only asks them that I will use you at this point of time. When they get the ball, it's up to them. Experience counts, but they have to do the hard yards to stay fit for 45-50 days and be at their best and playing in hot conditions. We are happy we haven't had many injuries (other than the players at the start) and thanks to the bowling department for that - we are here because of them.
"I would have preferred the openers to get a few more runs because in knockout games, there's no reason to go after the bowlers when the RRR is below six. If the openers had stayed and done the finishing after the hard yards. Why not stay till the end and get the runs under your belt (from the openers)? That would have been better, different captains have different views about that, but I'm happy to take the win any way," Dhoni said at the post-match interview.
The World Cup-winning captain also opined that the 7:30 pm start made a difference on the condition of the pitch which made it difficult to score in the opening stages of the game.
"t's the usual route, last year was an exception (to get to the final through the eliminator and second qualifier). The kind of response the boys gave was brilliant. You'll go for runs, miss a few catches, but it's important to come back strong. The way we batted to chase down 140+ was really nice. That's what the 7:30 start does, the groundstaff feel obliged to water it, and it's a little tacky initially - making it difficult to score. The spinners got more turn because of that.Â
"The bowling effort was brilliant, and we kept it in the right areas, not allowing Delhi to get a big score. It's important to get their openers out - their batting line-up is really strong and they have many left-handers and we have a left-arm spinner to negate them. The ground is a little small, so it is important for them to keep getting wickets. The timing of the wickets was very important because it was difficult for new batsmen to come and hit the big shots straightaway," Dhoni added.
